Screw-holding screw driver



Oct. 17, 1950 c so 2,526,211

SCREW-HOLDING SCREW DRIVER Filed Feb. 17, 1945 INVENTOR HUGO ERICKSQN U ATTORNEYS Patented Oct517, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE A 2,526,211 SCREW-HOLDING soREw DRIVER HugoErickson, Chicagoflll. Applicationlebruary 17, 1945, SerialNo. 573,383

I 2'Claims.

1 .My invention relates to hand tools 'and includes among its objects and advantages anincrease in .thejfacility with which a mechanic can complete :assefnblies where wood-screws, machine-screws, muts or .other threadedjfastening instrumentalities need to be quickly put in' place in places difficult of access.

In thesaecompanying drawing: Figure l-isaside elevation of a screw-driver .equipped with an j.attachment.according to the invention;

:Figure 2lis asection on line 22 of Figure 1; Figures isasectionbn line 3-r31of Figure 1 ,Figure 4 is .a section on; line '44 of Figure l; ,=Figu'r"e .'5 is ,a side elevation. similar vto Figure l of a screw-driver withasquare reach; 7

IFigureIGis a sectiononline 6--6 of Figure 5; Figure]? isa sectionon line 1-1 .of Figure 5; and

Figure 8 is alviewsiniilarltoFigure 1 with the parts in a difierentlpo'sition.

In the embodimentof the invention selected for illustration .in Figure 1, the screw-driverineludes the conventionalfhandleilil, reach I2, and blade [4. In the process of manufacture the deformationof the metaltoform blade I4 causes a slight lateral Joulge .orswelling ofthe reach ,where eitljoins the blade as indicated at H; in Figuresl andf3.

Thecli comprises C-shaped jaws (18, the inner r.

, facesof whichhave the same curvature as ,the outer surface of the reach [2. The "jaws are connected by a-bight 2i} and the entire clip is of resilient tempered spring steel so that when properly adjustedthe-jaws 18 press against the reach I2 to secure a firm frictional grip. From "the'jaws [8 the supporting arms'for the screw extend first outwardly and down'wardly 'as at 22 and then downwardly as-at"'24 and finally downwardly-and inwardly as at. to terminate in notched ,ends '28 adapted to embrace the, screw 30.

, :It willbe apparent that with the parts-in as- ,zsembled condition as in Figures 1, 5-or .8, the mechanic need only have access to'thehandle l0 with-his hands and can insert'the reach 12 and the clip and screw carried thereby into places that are inaccessible or too small to admit the hand of a workman. In this way he can put the screw 30 in the desired position and screw it in quickly, and a simple pull will thereafter be adequate to disengage the screw-driver and clip. I

Clips of this general type have been proposed in the past. To the best of my knowledge and belief, there has been some sporadic commercial "proportions of Figure 2 when the reach is successin their use, but so far as'I am aware,

there has been material dissatisfaction with such previous devices because they get bent or slightly .too loose, the clips of the prior art could notbe reconditioned except at the factory.

According to the invention, I m'ake'the thickness of the metal and'the size of thebight 20 such that the distortion of that part of theclip incident to pushing it past the bulges [-6 is exactly the rightamount to permit the resilience of the bight 20 to bring the jaws I8 back to a proper grip on the reach. Thus, when the jaws I8 get too loose, the workman can pull the clip off and with a hammer or a pairof pliers squeeze the jaws i8 untilthey are closer together than in Figure 2 Then he pulls the clip back over the bulges [6 into the position of Figure 1 and the bight 29 is'again stretched a little beyond its elastic limit and has just the right amount of recovery to give the right frictional grip on the reach l2.

specifically, these parts' have substantially the 3 'II 16 in diameter, and a good stan'dardgrade of spring steel havinga thickness of 0.015 when properly tempered, will give the desired result. It will be obvious that the ratio between diameter and blade thickness for other-sizes may readily be worked out by simple tests. And, it is not necessary to employ an particulargrade or quality of spring steel because'Youngs modulus is pracjtically the same for all such steels. It is only necessary to get the size of the bight 20 so proportioned with respect to the size of the buges l6 that when the jaws are expanded'to put them over the bulges, the movement of the jaws back to the position of Figure 2 will leave the right amount ofstress at the bight 20.

InFigures 5, 6" and 7 I haveindicated the application of the same principles to-a tool with a square reach. The supporting arms may be identicalwith Figure lbut the jaws '32 are each 'in two;portions lying at-right'angles to get'a bearingagainst one of the faces of 'thereach '34. To make sure that the bearing is on the face and not at one of the corners each jaw is bowed out as at 36 adjacent the corner it straddles. The bight 38 is merelyv a bowed out portion similar to the bulges 36 but of much greater extent. As a rule, in forming such a tool with a quare reach, the bulges 40 will extend a trifle further than the bulges 16, but all that is necessary to allow for that difierence, is to make the bight 38 correspondingly deeper. In Figure 1 the Wood-screw 30 has a tapered portion having approximately the same inclination as the arm portions 26, but this is not essential to effective operation. Thus, in Figure 5 I have illustrated a machine-screw 42, and it will be noted that the portions 26 of the supporting arms bear against the ed es of the head while their inner ends reach in to engage the threaded shank of the screw.

It is not difficu t to use the parts assembled as in Figure 1 and Figure 5. In fact, a few workmen prefer to hook the notch in the head of the screw over the end of the b ade M. or 44. and then swing the screw into axial a ignment to snap the arms into gripping position. However, the majority of users prefer to have the b ade at right angles to the position shown in Figure 1 and Figure 5, as indicated in Figure 8. To insert the screw in this position, one end of the s ot is engaged with the corn r of the blade and the slot guides t e movement of the screw into asser bled position.

The preferr d techni ue is to scre the fastening element far enough in so that the art receiving it will hold it firmly in place. Then the screw-driver is withd awn and the clioretracted so that the ends of the arms will not be caught under the head of the fastenin member. Then the screw-driver is again en a ed with the fastening member for final tightening. On this account it will be appare t that a grip so ti ht that it hurts the users fingers to dis lace the clip will be unsatisfactory. and also unless the grip is tight enough to pull the clip off the fastening member, there will be trouble of a different sort. Furthermore, if a hurried or absent minded worker tightens up on the fastening member with the clip jaws still in place, those jaws are going to be deformed mo e or less. On this account it is necessary to be able to slip the clip off and straighten u the jaws with a pair of pliers, and then get the clip back on again in good working condition. It wi l be apparent that the structure disclosed obviates the foregoing disadvantages.

Without further elaboration the foregoing will so fully ex lain my invention that others may readily ada t the same for use under various conditions of service.

I claim:

1. The combination with a conventional screw driver having a reach of circular cross section,

a flattened blade, and a joining portion joining the reach and the blade, which joining portion has a cross-sectional contour projecting at spaced points beyond the contour of the cross section of said reach, of a holder comprising, in combination: a relatively short and relatively rigid sleevelike body having opposed members shaped to fit frictionally against opposite sides of said reach; a connection between said members in the nature of an open U-shaped bight integral with said members and joining them at one side only; relatively resilient arms integral with said body and extending in one direction only f m sa d bQ each arm being substantially flat in cross section to secure flexibility greater than that of said members; said arms being axially longer than said body and long enough to extend beyond the end of said screw driver with said body still positioned on said reach; said arms having inwardly directed end portions shaped to grip and hold a screw in operative engagement with said screw driver; said members gripping said reach peripherally with a predetermined frictional force greater than that required to free said resilient arms but small enough to permit convenient axial adjustment by the fingers of the user; the elastic limit of said bight being such that deforming said sleeve means to an abnormally contracted condition and subsequently pushing it on longitudinally over said joining portion will let it spring back and grip said reach with said predetermined frictional force.

2. The combination with a conventional screw driver having a reach of uniform cross section, a flattened blade, and a joining portion joining the reach and the blade, which joining portion has a cross-sectional contour projecting at spaced points beyond the contour of the cross section of said reach, of a holder comprising, in combination: a relatively short and relatively rigid sleeve-liie body having opposed members shaped to fit frictionally against opposite sides of said reach; a connection between said members in the nature of an open U-shaped bight integral with said members and joining them at one side only; reatively resilient arms extending in one direction only from said body; each arm being more flexible than said members; said arms being axially longer than said body and long enough to extend beyond the end of said screw driver with said body still positioned on said reach; said arms having inwardly directed end portions shaped to grip and hold a screw in operative engagement with said screw driver; said members gripping said reach peripherally with a predetermined frictional force greater than that required to free said resilient arms but small enough to permit convenient axial adjustment by the fingers of the user; the elastic limit of said bight being such that deforming said sleeve means to an abnormally contracted condition and subsequently pushing it on longitudinally over said joining portion will let it spring back and grip said reach with said predetermined frictional force.

HUGO ERICKSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 896,107 Harrison Aug. 18, 1908 1,090,028 Comb et al. Mar. 10, 1914 1,549,413 Greet Aug. 11, 1925 1,742,278 Reid Jan. '7, 1930 1,782,565 Dohnal Nov. 25, 1930 1,791,771 Velepec spawn- Feb. 10, 1931 

